


Remember Me

by jaskiersvalley (connorssock)



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Injured Jaskier | Dandelion, M/M, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27332425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/connorssock/pseuds/jaskiersvalley
Summary: A new monster reared its ugly head at the edge of the Continent. The only way to defeat it was to work together but even three witchers wouldn't be able to fight it and all come out alive. Not unless there was a willing volunteer to take one of their injuries. Of course Jaskier offered himself up. The only way to make the spell truly effective was to make Geralt forget about him though.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 20
Kudos: 210





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 1 can be read as a standalone if you fancy a bitter ending. Chapter 2 is where the happy end will lie.

It looked hopeless. Even with Geralt teaming up with Lambert and Eskel, it was nigh on impossible to take on the creature. They didn’t even have a name for it. All they knew was that it had been lurking on the edge of the Continent, only rumours and unreliable sightings had been floating around about it. As far as the witchers were concerned, the creature was nothing more than a scary story to keep children in bed overnight. How they wished that was the case now. Instead, the monster had crawled from its cesspit of secretive existence and was terrorising the villages at the edge of their world. It had already killed at least two witchers before Eskel had come across the contract. He listened carefully and decided it wasn’t something he could handle alone so he sent out word for Lambert and Geralt to come help him. In the meantime, he stayed out of the creature’s way, keeping tabs on it, documenting its behaviour and trying to find its weaknesses. There were none as far as he could see.

Naturally, Geralt arrived with Jaskier in tow and, when Lambert turned up, they went out together to weigh up their chances. They were slim to say the least. The best plan they had was for two of them to take a side of the creature each, try and distract and pin the appendages while the third rushed in to stab it. Usually, such a plan would work but the one going in for the fatal blow was likely to be on a suicide mission. As soon as the creature was stabbed, it would coil in on itself to fight off the assailant. That was assuming the third got close enough to actually inflict the wound.

“You two take a side and I’ll make the final blow,” Eskel said over an ale.

“Who will look after Lil Bleater then?” Lambert protested. “I can do it.”

Huffing, Geralt watched the two argue, Eske adamant that Lambert had Aiden, Geralt had Jaskier so it wouldn’t be right to ask them. They were circling around, all but growling for their cause until Geralt slammed his tankard down.

“I have the extra mutations so I’m faster and better. I have the best chance of survival. There will be no argument over this.”

There was a lot of arguing over it. Even Jaskier voiced his loud opinion on the matter but when he was pressed to then choose to send one of the others to almost certain death, he couldn’t.

“There has to be a way to give you an edge.”

“You’re in luck,” a new voice joined in from the edge of their camp and Yennefer strode in, poised and regal as ever before. “There may be a way.”

Three sets of yellow eyes turned to her with interest while Jaskier crowed triumphantly at the prospect of a solution. That happiness lasted all of three seconds.

“There’s a spell that will transfer all injuries to a willing volunteer.”

That didn’t sound like a feasible path, Geralt couldn’t think of anyone who would be able to bear his injuries and would want to. Maybe Eskel but they needed him to distract.

“I’ll do it.” Jaskier looked determined and fierce, back pulled straight.

“No you won’t.” There was a firmness to Geralt’s voice, refusing to allow Jaskier to take on his wounds. “If I know you’ll be hurting, I’ll be even more hesitant and so less likely to actually succeed.”

“Then we make you temporarily forget.” Jaskier looked to Yennefer. “You can do that, right?”

The nod had Jaskier looking triumphant. “It is settled. We’re doing this.”

Geralt was powerless to disagree, the monster needed to be dealt with and that was their best plan. The sooner they did it, the better and Yennefer opened up a portal to Kaer Morhen where she and Vesemir could best tend to Jaskier.

It didn’t take long, Yennefer prepared a bottle for Geralt’s memories while Vesemir set up a bed for Jaskier. They could only hazard a guess as to what was to come. Once everything was set up, it was a matter of Yennefer performing the spell to link Geralt and Jaskier. A thump to Geralt’s shoulder had Jaskier grumpily rubbing his and scowling at Lambert. Everything was ready.

“Say your goodbyes, it will be the last for a little while,” Yennefer announced and watched as Geralt stepped up to Jaskier and cupped his cheek.

“I’ll come back to you as soon as I can. I’ll always want you back in my life.” A soft, desperate kiss followed before Geralt stepped away.

Shooing Jaskier out, Yennefer took his spot in front of Geralt and put a hand on either side of his temple, whispering words of a spell. Slowly, a soft, sparkling blue trail reached from Geralt to the bottle. It filled with an effervescent, swirl of memories and, by the time Yennefer stepped away to cork it, Geralt had no memory of Jaskier at all.

The three witchers returned back to the edge of the Continent, they had a monster to kill and a plan on how to do it. Lambert and Eskel rushed in, igni clearing their path until they were close to the creature, taking the brunt of its attention and attacks. It left Geralt with an in and he took it. A tendril shot out from the creature, whipping across his chest. Distantly, Geralt knew it should hurt but where he should have had a cut, he had nothing despite his armour being sliced open. Snarling, he charged on, ignoring the mist of acid that should have burned his throat, the bone crushing hold on one of his wrists. He had a job to do and nothing was going to stop him.

Far in the distance, Yennefer and Vesemir were bent over a bed with salves, bandages and soothing words to help. Not that any of it truly had much effect. For the first time since the sacking, Kaer Morhen’s halls were filled with screams once again.

Finally, the creature was dead. Lambert and Eskel were battered and bruised while Geralt looked infuriatingly unscathed. His armour was tattered but there was not a mark on his body.

“Let’s go home.” Turning back to the creature one last time, Geralt bared his teeth at the corpse. The villagers paid up as promised, a measly sum for the amount of work but it was the best they could do. At long last, a portal appeared and they stepped through.

All three of them traipsed to the infirmary, Geralt only there as Yennefer ushered him off with the others.

“There’s someone who wants to see you there.” Mysterious and unhelpful, Geralt strode in and looked at the human on the bed.

“Geralt,” the figure croaked. “You made it.”

The smell of tears wafted through the air and Geralt’s nose wrinkled. He stared down at the man without a single emotion.

“Geralt, do you want your memories back?” A shaking hand pointed at the swirling blue in a bottle. “Don’t you want your bard back?”

Another look at the man and Geralt wondered what memories he could possibly want back about this person. He didn’t look like much, seemed like a weakness, a drag and another mouth to feed.

“Not really.” The words cut through the air and Geralt turned to walk out of the infirmary.The broken sob that filtered through to his ears made his resolve all that much more firm. He didn’t need a bard. Especially not a human one past his prime. Life was already tough enough without another liability that seemed so emotional. No, Geralt was better off and stronger without his memories.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaskier gets his happy ending.

It was only at Eskel’s gruff urging that Geralt even returned to the infirmary. He had no interest in seeing Jaskier again, only learning his name because of Lambert and Eskel’s incessant bullying. Thanks to them, Geralt also knew what Jaskier had done to help them fight the monster. It filled him with suspicion, no human would do that for a witcher without expecting something in return. Even when he was pushed to regain his memories, Geralt couldn’t see why he’d want to do that. Over the years Lambert and Eskel had softened, even Vesemir seems more approachable. They were everything witchers weren’t meant to be, Geralt had to be strong, had to keep up the standards. Still, he wasn’t an absolute monster and he knew he owed Jaskier thanks for his services. That was how he ended up going back into the infirmary where Jaskier was propped up against pillows, the room shrouded in darkness - something about his eyes being light sensitive as they recovered.

“These are for you,” Geralt announced and gruffly shoved a box of dried fruits onto the bed next to Jaskier. “As thanks.”

There was so much sadness in the air and Jaskier looked longingly at the still swirling bottle. It functioned like a soft light, making shadows constantly shift around. Geralt watched as Jaskier opened the box and stared at the fruits. For some reason they made Jaskier burst into tears. It was such a strange reaction, Geralt backed away. Usually, if a human cried, others were sure to turn up and assume he was the cause of it all and got very aggressive very quickly. It wasn’t being a coward and it wasn’t fleeing to beat a tactical retreat. Geralt stalked out of the infirmary. Leaving Jaskier to his broken sobbing.

Things didn’t get much easier. Of all the people to get snippy, Lambert was the one to give Geralt a glare whenever they passed. For whatever reason, nobody was leaving to get back on the Path and Yennefer refused to open a portal. Meal times were strained, Eskel all but ignoring Geralt, not that they usually spoke much but their body language usually did all the talking. Now, it was all closed off and angry. Training wasn’t much better, there was none of the camaraderie, Lambert and Eskel preferred to stick to each other.

The final straw was when the bottle of memories turned up on Geralt’s bedside table. He glowered at it, its soft light spilling throughout his room. Whoever had put it there was a rude bastard. Those weren’t memories which would serve Geralt well. He couldn’t afford to be soft like the others, he obviously hadn’t lost any important memories, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to kill the monster. That had taken all of his skills. Obviously Geralt was better off without those memories. He owed nothing to Jaskier.

Such thinking lasted two days. No matter where Geralt hid the bottle of memories, it always ended up back on his bedside table. Even when he shoved it in the drawer or under the table, a small amount of light still spilled out. It kept him awake and irate. He grabbed the bottle from the sock he had shoved it in and stared. With an irate thought of “fine” he gripped the bottle hard. Obviously this was important to the others. If they thought he wasn’t good enough without these memories, that he was somehow lesser for being more true to their creation then he would teach them a lesson. Opening the bottle, Geralt watched as the swirling mass seemed to swirl and leap to the lip as if eager to return. With a huff, he poured it into his palm, scoffing at the warm-cool feel of not quite liquid against his skin. It sank into his skin with a slight tingle and Geralt eyes glazed over as memories all settled back in their rightful places. Over 20 years of memories of Jaskier, his smile, his laugh, music, the feel of his lips, the way he gasped in pleasure, the way his eyes lit up when presented with a trinket.

Stumbling, Geralt got up in a rush. He almost tore the door off its hinges in his mad dash. Running, he rounded the corner and pushed Eskel out of the way, ignoring the indignant yell. There were more important things than Eskel’s annoyance and bruised elbow, he’d be fine by the morning. Skidding to a halt, Geralt tried to be a little more quiet about barging into the infirmary where Jaskier was curled up on his side, hugging a pillow to his chest. The scent of tears still clogged the air. Suddenly, Geralt was uncertain about his welcome but just as he was about to back out of the room, Jaskier raised his head.

“Geralt?” It was sleepy, needy and Geralt was by Jaskier’s side in an instant, running a hand through his hair.

“I’m here. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry Jask.”

A hand reached to grip Geralt’s and Jaskier turned large eyes at him. “You’re back.”

Fresh tears but these were of relief rather than misery. As tenderly as he could, Geralt gathered Jaskier up in his arms and settled him in his lap.

“I can’t believe I brought you dried fruits. You hate them.”

A wet little laugh emerged from Jaskier at that. “I can’t stand the stuff. Had to have Lambert come and eat them all so I could get rid of them. He only let Yennefer help him.”

They sat like that for a little longer until Jaskier squirmed in Geralt’s lap, obviously trying to be subtle about it.

“What?”

“I’m not quite comfortable sitting up just yet.”

Immediately, Geralt was helping Jaskier lie back and trying to tuck him in. A hand darted out to catch him around the wrist.

“Stay?” As if Geralt could ever refuse. He slid under the covers and carefully helped arrange Jaskier against his chest.

In the morning, Yennefer stepped into the infirmary with a tray of breakfast. She was greeted to the sight of Geralt curled around Jaskier possessively. Setting the tray quietly to the side, she stepped back out with a relieved sigh. Things were finally back to how they should have always been.

**Author's Note:**

> Find more of my writing on tumblr - @jaskiersvalley


End file.
